Believing is seeing

Abstract

This quantitative survey study explored the relationship between cultural worldview and the occurrence of climate science misconceptions among undergraduates at five colleges. In a broader sense, this investigation set out to establish a link between two theories, both of which served as the theoretical framework for this study: cultural cognition theory (Kahan, 2012), which explains how worldview can influence a person's attitudes about climate change, and conceptual change theory (Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982), which describes the existence and characteristics of science misconceptions. Two research questions were posed to guide this investigation: RQ1) To what extent does cultural worldview relate to the occurrence of climate science misconceptions, scientific knowledge, or lack of knowledge among undergraduates attending college? RQ2) To what extent do measures of hierarchy-egalitarianism, individualism-communitarianism, cognitive reflection ability, and the interactions of these variables impact the occurrence of climate science misconceptions? Data for this investigation was collected using the Worldview, Misconceptions, and Cognitive Reflection (WMCR) survey instrument that was created by combining three existing instruments to measure respondents' cultural worldview (Kahan, Jenkins-Smith, & Braman, 2011), climate science misconceptions (Arslan, Cigdemoglu, & Moseley, 2012), and cognitive reflection ability (Frederick, 2005). The WMCR was administered via Qualtrics and emailed to 11,234 enrolled undergraduates at the five colleges during the summer of 2018. The final sample population included 688 survey respondents. Pearson's chi-square test of independence was used to test all six hypotheses associated with RQ1. Pearson's r and binary logistic regression were used to test the three hypotheses associated with RQ2. Hypothesis testing and demographic analysis revealed five major findings: 1) The understanding of climate change science was low among learners, while certainty of response was high; 2) Misconceptions related to climate-weather confusion and the magnitude of global warming were influenced by learners' worldview; 3) Learners demonstrated ideologically motivated reasoning with the misconception that recent climate changes are the result of natural cycles; 4) Certain climate science misconceptions were strictly influenced by learners' cognitive reflection ability; 5) Significant gender differences exist in worldview, cognitive reflection, and climate science misconceptions. Recommendations for higher education practitioners, climate communicators, and policymakers are considered.